It doesn't make you a whiny baby, it makes you a consumer, of which we all are. Unfortunately some seem to forget that fact. It is not our responsibility to ensure that the developers stay profitable, nor should we ever feel sorry for them if they somehow fail. Quite frankly, that is their problem, not ours. Do i feel bad when an auto maker goes under? No. To keep it more comparative, how about the thousands upon thousands of up and coming no name artists selling their first album? Sad, but the reality is that they are a dime a dozen in a vulturous industry (personally speaking, it is one of the shaddiest business i've the displeasure to work with in past). When I bought my house a few years back, my realtor was fairly new, only having practiced a couple of years. I didnt make sure he made extra money off negotiating the price with the sellers or give the sellers more money because I really loved their house, so why should I or anyone compromise their sensibilities as a conscientious consumer when it comes to video games? It is not that I don't care to support this hobby or the industry that I used to work in, but at some point the pandering has to stop! What I am told by my own community of gamers, developers and publishers: I am not supporting the developer when I don't buy the game full price on release. I am not supporting the developer when I wait to buy the game on a price drop. I am not supporting the developer when I don't buy the IAP. I am not supporting the developer when I download the game free. I am not supporting the developer when I don't advertise the game for them on Facebook. I am not supporting the developer when I am speaking in any way other than overwhelmingly positively about the game. I am not supporting the developer when I am not clicking on the ads. I am not supporting the developer when at an given time there is money in my account that I am not directly pumping towards the developer. The truth to this fallacy is that it is not MY responsibility to support the developer much less ensure its fiscal profitability. It is my responsibility as a consumer to ensure I get the best bang for my buck. I am not a charity, and while I willingly and freely pay for games I deem worth my money, it is my responsibility to myself to do so in a way that best serves MY interests. I support the developer when I buy their game. After that it is purely blind fandom or supporting for personal gratification, of which I don't confuse with the difference of truly supporting a developer. As such, it is also our right to call shenanigans. no person should ever feel demonized for complaining from the point f what they are; a consumer with grievances! This has become a reoccurring trend in recent years in the video gaming industry in which gamers have been duped into feeling psychologically compelled to feel bad for the poor flailing developers (or publisher). Don't get me wrong! I don't ever wish any to fail and hope for those who truly love the field to succeed. But ultimately it is the job of the developer just like any other manufacturer of a good, to produce a product of which consumers will buy, not the consumer to flock to it with support. It is their job to ensure its profitability, and likewise it is our responsibility to ourselves as consumers to complain if we disagree! Support is won through making a great game, through exposure, through quality, through unique style and approach, through smart marketing, through a combination of a hundred things and the stars alligning. Truth be told though, this is a highly saturated, highly competitive industry where many will try, more will fail, and even those who go on to make great games can find themselves out in the cold as a great game gets passed by with critical success and commercial failure (a common trend not limited to mobile gaming). This is the reality you choose to undertake as a developer. These ladies and gents do not go into this field without knowing the risk/reward factor and the rate of success. If they do not succeed it is not the responsibility of the community to ensure it succeeds, or get upset if it fails as the developer owes you no allegiance and is ultimately present to make a product and take as much of your money in any way it can. I support the developer by buying the product as I am told that it will be... Not as it will drastically change on a whim to fit a economic model to better support the developers interests. So when the developers interests conflict with my consumer interests; we have a problem. So for people to complain about such things as an app they paid for that goes free; they have the right too. Too often the argument is brushed away as being simply about the monetary value rather than the principle. Whether a person pays .99ยข or $99 the issue is that no one likes it when the terms and conditions in which the software they use change in such an unagreeable way with no recourse but to take it; particularly when they have paid for it. Any consumer has the right to complain. Because as much as I support my hobbies, my responsibilities lay with preserving my interests as a consumers, not my unhappy joy-joy feelings of the unkept dreams of a developer to come true with my money due to their commercial unsuccess. And I'm not ranting about this game in particular or Everplay specifically, but the mentality shift of developers and publishers in the video game industry in general... Tell your community your plans beforehand, ask for suggestions, and assess the disposable nature of your game design, what can strengthen it, what can improve it while being economically feasible, etc. Fans are investors, and while they may not always have sound understanding of the complexities of game design and the evolving business models employed within, they will at the very least appreciate the honesty and upfront nature of a developer who communicates rather than explains after the fact...
I don't mean to derail this thread any further, but I have one nagging question - why can't you guys just release a separate F2P version with iAPs and ads? I'm sure most TAers would prefer that over converting a paid game into a freemium one.
If the current content update was made for the first game (since it's been hinted that there was more coming) and then it was said that you were moving on to a sequel, I honestly don't think there'd have been many complaints.
you're not required or in any way obligated to get down on your knees (for bowing or other activities) for a developer, but it does seem like you're lumping every content/product maker into one group. there's a difference when an auto maker goes under, and when a small, two-man team of game developers does the same. again, you have no obligation to the developer, but if you like a product, and you want to see more of it, the best way to ensure that is to support it. how much, whether it's just buying the game, promoting it on facebook, or buying iap's, is up to you.
Then the only difference in the game would be the exclusion of ads. While a select few hardcore users despise the IAP, a majority of our players actively welcome them as long as they are not required. And in Spell Sword, they are not required. It is a 2-sided coin: We punish players who want to buy IAP by removing it and punish players who hate IAP by adding it.
Does the next update fix the iCloud control position bug? I can't play the game anymore without deleting everything!
Well said mate. Save this post for the future. I'm pretty sure people will need it to open their eyes. Cheers.
You are right. The only difference in when a auto maker goes under, and when a small, two-man team of game of developers does is that of actual impact, personal concern and invested interest. One has a greater impact, with far reaching economic effects, whereas the other does not. I never said I don't care; I have a greater concern and understanding of the impact when dealing with the auto maker, and I recognize the personal one of the indy developer, but it is a much different thing and not a situation of dire circumstances. I understand the dedication to making a game as I have been in that very seat in the past in jobs both in the States and Japan. I also understand the great risk/reward nature of it as well. I still have friends in the industry and many more who have left the video game industry because of company closures and failed ventures. It is not that I am unempathetic; quite conversely I am just a sympathetic realist. The field is much more stable than it used to be when I was in it. Even with a closure your own studio you can find work in the industry quite quickly. Statistically speaking, only about 13% in the field don't find other employment in it; a much more stable number in 2011 and 2012 then any previous years. Just because someone chooses to work for themselves doesn't mean that when their ventures fail it is the end of the road. It has nothing to do with my caring or not, and if that is what you took away from my admittedly bloviate post, then you didn't get my point. My gripe is that of the community and developer mindset of which looks at me like a bad guy when I put my consumer interests over that of the developers; making it seem like anyone who does is somehow wrong for doing so. I shouldn't be manipulated, digitally brow-beaten or shamed to care, by a developer or a community. No other industry utilizes this tactic on their consumer base except for the video game industry [in recent years], and I won't tolerate it anymore. No one should feel like they are in the wrong when their consumer interests outweigh the developers. That's my argument.
I really would like to play this but after reading this thread and reviews in the app store Im staying away from this like the plague. What is happening to mobile gaming, we're gonna burn out the light before we even get started. It's one thing to put some change in your pocket but it seems devs these days are consumed by greed. Someone on the app store reviewed the game and said they downloaded this free and got charged anyway by a "hidden fee" if it's true this is the definition of bad business. I would gladly pay 5 dollars for a game I can play and earn my way through rather than being flooded with ads and confusing interfaces to get people to spend more money. There has to be a better way.
the game was less than $5 for quite a while, and there were no ads or iap's to speak of. there was also no confusing interface. if you really wanted to play the game, where were you then? and now that there is an option (read that again...and then read this: option) to purchase your way to faster upgrades, the interface is no more confusing than before. that is, unless an extra icon on a screen throws you for a loop. you say you've read the thread, yet you cite consumers being 'flooded' with ads. not only was that a gross over exaggeration (there are very few ads, and they are small), but the developers have commented in a few posts that it was in error, and they are fixing that with the next update. if you believe someone was magically charged by this app with 'hidden fees', then it explains a lot about the rest of your post. bool zero, it's too bad you've let your higher education and experience sour your enjoyment of gaming. i agree that in many cases, the press and community puts pressure on people to support developers, and sometimes it comes off a little abrasive (gasketball, to use a recent example), but it's not like anyone's got any real control over your purchasing habits.
You twisted all of my words. About someone being charged unknowingly I said IF it was true key word there. I didn't know about this app until today when it showed on the front page of the TA app. What I meant is I would rather pay for a game without ads and misleading consumers into buying things they don't need, if you actually read the reviews of consumers for this app in the apple app store you would understand people's frustration. It's running rampant in the iOS community with the rise of free 2 play and freemium etc etc.. I see you are part of the defense squad here, good day sir I'll leave you to your forum.
You say the ads were an "error" yet 90% of the reviews say after the update, after they already supported the devs by purchasing the game before it was free they get ads and the game makes it harder for you to collect needed items in order to push you into IAP it's plain to see.
they said the ads weren't supposed to show up for people who already had the app before it went f2p, but there was a mixup with the timestamp being overwritten by the update. it's a simple, and honest mistake that they've said they're working to fix. you clearly haven't read anything from a credible source about this game or the update (sorry, but itunes reviews are, for the most part, completely unreliable). conveniently enough, there are several posts in this very thread that explain how how the iap system barely affects the game or your ability to progress without forking over money. not enough? how about this article posted by jared on the front page: http://toucharcade.com/2012/08/20/spell-sword-gets-new-content-and-goes-free-to-play-in-latest-update/ and i know there were rabid fans of another game, determined to defend a game based on opinion and blind faith, but that hardly applies here. pointing out someone's inability to read or think logically doesn't land them in the 'defense squad', no matter how popular that term has recently become. so before i get another pr headache, i'm gonna go enjoy a game.
What I meant was that you guys could release a F2P version of the game that has iAPs and ads, while the premium version remains ad free and iAP free, with significantly less of a grind than the F2P version. Wouldn't that still work?
I fully agree with nfong's sentiment. For an example, to those who care, look at dark meadow. I think this thread has gotten a little derailed and overly critical. I deleted the game after the "ad fiasco". Not because the ads were that in your face, more as a matter of principal. Changing the game balance a little did not overly effect the game, and make a good game bad. Really? I'd be surprised if it ruined it for anyone that gave it a chance. Speaking of giving things a chance... Everplay has been here listening to their customers and removed all ads from the game. I guarantee that will lose them revenue. They're doing it to support the people that supported them though. I'm not saying I'll re install it. Chances are I won't. I can't really justify holding a grudge against the developer though. I wish you guys the best of luck turning a profit on the game. I got more than $.99 enjoyment out of it.
Yes. At this point, they've really got nothing to lose. If they don't do something, they won't earn any money and the company could fail. If they do change the payment structure of the game, then they risk alienating their current fanbase, but they may then attract a lot of new gamers that might not have tried their game otherwise. Unfortunately, it's gamers like us at TA, who are willing to pay for a good gaming experience to enjoy an ad-free, IAP-free game, that pay the price for the developer's lack of success because we've invested in a game that now has ads and IAPs where there were none before. I really wish Apple wouldn't allow developers to do this, but then they may be limiting their own opportunity to make 30% of every sale, so that will never happen. If it matters, I support Bool Zero's statements 100%; however, that opinion usually falls on deaf ears and the only people that respond are the fanboys. Shame, really.
I've always been ok with non-forced IAP (except for unlocking full game, when the game is free) but having ads on a paid game is something i never liked. Since Everplay admitted there was a fault on this, im still happy about the game, and am looking forward to getting the version without the ads.
Thank you, Everplay I think it's time to mitigate for all the whining. Everplay, thank you for creating a great game that people obviously care about instead of making another one of the 95% of app store offerings that serve no purpose except to make it hard to find gems like Spellsword. Thank you for offering Spellsword at $0.99, even though to me, it is easily worth $2.99. Thank you for continuing to provide free updates that keep the game interesting for me. Thank you for considering creative ways to keep the project alive after its profitability waned, instead of just killing the project and moving on to the next flavor of the week. Thank you for considering my interests in making the update by implementing IAPs as an option, rather than a requirement for experiencing all the game has to offer. I'm a grinder. Thank you for listening to your users and participating in this forum, even though it means putting up with all kinds of unhelpful childishness. Finally, lest readers think I'm under some kind of delusion that you've done all this just to be nice: Thank you for being smart capitalists--the kind who understand that to make money, you have to do what's best for the members of your current AND FUTURE market even though it isn't possible to please every individual. Keep layin' down the code.
